mike smith

Zenyatta jockey Mike Smith is still hurting from Saturday’s slim loss to Blame and doesn’t appear to be shaking it off any time soon. “That’s one I’ll never get over to tell you the truth,” said Smith. “I did my best. We just came up short. It’s a tough one to swallow.” require_once(ABSPATH. ‘/wp-content/blogad.php’); ?> […]

By Scott Jagow
It was not meant to be.
Zenyatta charged down the stretch like she always does, but she could not catch Blame, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic by less than a head in a photo finish. Zenyatta broke last and trailed the field by 14 lengths in the early going, […]

PRESS RELEASE
Jerry and Ann Moss’ Zenyatta didn’t know, and her fans didn’t care, that their beloved mare had lost the Breeders’ Cup Classic. They still turned out in droves on Sunday morning.
Trainer John Shirreffs took down the barricades that had lined Barn 41 all week and allowed media and fans to get […]

Beethoven
John Magnier, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith’s Beethoven walked the shedrow again on Monday, awaiting clearance from quarantine, which was expected to come by 5 p.m. He arrived at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Traveling head lad Pat Keating said that he, like all the runners from Ballydoyle, “traveled well, and we couldn’t be […]

PRESS RELEASE
One day after an unusually wet morning, Mother Nature continued to oblige two-time champion Zenyatta with Kentucky like weather morning as she went to the Hollywood Park main track amidst cool temperatures and overcast skies on Thursday. The undefeated mare galloped 1 π miles under regular exercise rider Steve Willard as she […]

By Scott Jagow
Proviso showed her “winstinct” once again Saturday, powering home from the back of the pack to capture the Grade 1, $400,000 Abu Dhabi First Lady Stakes on the Keeneland turf.
The five-year-old mare was second to last in the field of nine at the top of the stretch, but jockey Mike Smith took […]

By Scott Jagow Zenyatta rarely makes it easy on her fans. The champion mare once again waited until the final strides Saturday to pass a game rival and take the Grade 1, $250,000 Lady’s Secret at Hollywood Park. The victory improved Zenyatta’s career record to 19 for 19 and set her up for a shot at ending her perfect career with a […]

Zenyatta extended her unbeaten streak to 18 as she beat Rinterval by a head in the Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar. Read it at the San Diego Union-Tribune
MIKE SMITH (Zenyatta) — “Oh, she was looking good today. This was Zenyatta. I wanted everyone to see her and she showed up. I think […]

In this morning’s San Diego Union-Tribune, Nick Canepa wants us to stop for a minute and think things through before proclaiming Zenyatta as the greatest of all time as jockey Mike Smith did after last weekend’s Hirsch. He’s not even convinced that Z is the best filly or mare in history. “I refuse to say […]